Fifty
by you-neek
Summary: Fifty words, fifty stories. Fourth: Dentists. Who DOESN'T hate them?
1. Impaired Driving

**Here you go, number 3 on our fifty word list.**

* * *

**_Impaired Driving: 03_**

The Grandion is a small pub on Aster Street, squashed between a late night deli and an empty store that gets bought and sold every two and a half months. It is not as grand as its name suggests, and does not serve anything fruity, or something that needs a lemon twist, or a cherry on top, and instead sticks to salted peanuts and cold beer. To go along with its wide menu, the Grandion has a healthy variety of seats, ranging from booth to barstool and everything in between. The only thing in between is one out of three banged up, square tables on the floor. The crowd is small if anything, and usually comes in waves after five o'clock on Fridays, Saturdays and, if there's a game, Sundays.

The bar, having come into ownership of two new TV's since the season started, was bustling and warm, full of pot bellies and loosened ties. A poor soul sits at the bar however, hunched over a now warm beer and several empty bowls of salted peanuts. His hair is greying, and there are dark circles under his eyes. If he were to stand up you would see his unhealthy thinness and would have read the defeat his shoulders spelled out. He rapped his knuckles hard on the polished wood of the bar, signalling for another beer.

"I think you have just about had enough for tonight Terry." The owner of the voice was the middle-aged bartender; towel on her shoulder, hand on her waist. She was a tough-as-nails old crone who only softened for her granddaughter, and hadn't had need of a bouncer since she was fresh out of school. Misjudge how hard her fists could fly, and it could mean the end of your drink supply and a cold section of pavement to pass out on. "And I don't just mean the beer, aren't you supposed to be watching your cholesterol?"

Terry pressed his lips together thoughtfully. As the festivities raged on behind him he mumbled a response, watching her from beneath his shaggy mop of hair. "I got fired today."

Terry was not a lucky man. Through school he fit between crowds, always welcome at a table but never for a party/invite-a-friend-vacation/his own graduation party. Well the last one was a bit of a stretch, his father forgot to pick him up from work and only remembered when they brought the cake from the fridge and didn't have someone to blow the candles out, that's all. College went mostly the same, only including dorm roommates that didn't spend anytime in their own bed, being locked out of lectures and burning almost everything he tried cooking on a hot plate. Out of all his education came a temp position at the local agency for ten years (not very temporary, if you ask me). After those gruelling ten years full of plain cubicle walls and scratchy suits, he got himself a job as a construction worker. One of those sweaty men you see holding the stop sign in the heat of the day, until they decide to slowly rotate the pole in their hands so that you can move at a snails pace. He wasn't very good at this job, as others noticed, so he got bounced around a lot until they created a position for him heckling prices down and delivering blueprints.

"But you hated that job" said the bartender, tugging down the towel to wring it in her hands. She always had a soft spot for Terry. His love life was almost non-existent, and they were both aging…

"Yeah but… it paid the bills… Now…" He ran his calloused fingers through his hair for the numerous time that day. "I guess I'll just have to get a job as a janitor and hope no one throws up in the halls, Isabel." He slid off the stool reaching back for his wallet, only to groan. "My wallet…" he looked helplessly at Isabel.

She smiled gently "I'll put it on your tab."

"You don't start tabs for anyone, Is."

"You're not just anyone. Go home Terry."

Terry's luck had caught up with him again. His face was pressed into the glass of his car door, fogging steadily under his beer-smelling breath. The police officer was ordering him to '_sir, if you could step out of the car'_, and walk in a straight line with his arms our. _Of course officer_, he thought spitefully. _Maybe if this goes well I'll be so drunk that I'll stumble, flail, punch you in the face, and get put behind bars for assaulting a cop. _However, his luck was not interested in ruining his life all together, and he managed to walk a wobbly line without flailing, punching, or assaulting

"Could you recite the alphabet backwards for me sir?"

Alphabets were something Terry had been good at while he was still young enough not to have grey in his hair. In college he spent a more-than-is-healthy amount of time in the library. Enough time to learn the aged librarian's first name. Enough time to let her make him Jasmine tea when he stayed at school for _another _spring break. Enough time to get him an un-official job alphabetizing returned books for less than minimum wage, and tea and cookies after he was done. But she had died one rainy, wet spring evening, drinking tea in the staff room. Alphabets didn't come as freely as they once did with Terry.

As he was being cuffed for drinking under the influence, he thought he felt the hood of the cruiser shake underneath him. _Am I so drunk_?.. Contrary to his thoughts, Terry soon saw something that explained everything, and could possibly make his night worse.

"Titans Go!"

Oh no…

Terry squinted out of the eye that was not pressed against cold metal, and could clearly make out a large shape. His body was thick and looked to be made out of large cubes. As the monster gave a roar and tumbled back, the streetlamp he tipped over sparked and exploded, illuminating the face of a local villain _Cinderblock_.

_Oh shit_.

The officer thought so too.

Terry stood in wonder as the brick-brained monster rumbled over to him. With no one to restrain his anymore (he vaguely wondered if running that fast was part of police training) he could easily have stumbled his way to safety, but his knees chose that particular shake of the ground to give way, and soon he was watching a pair of gargantuan cement feet come closer and closer, until his alcohol caught all the way up with him and felt generous enough to knock him unconscious.

Unfortunately, he didn't stay that way.

His vision was blurred. He saw blue. A lot of blue. The exact same shade of blue that Rose-the-librarian's hand-knit, floor-length, button-up sweater was. Accompanied by the same scent of Jasmine that always followed it. _Terry_, she was saying. _Terry wake up. You've got a class in five minutes and I'm not signing for another late slip. Wake up. Wake up Terry. Terry_...

"Terry? Terry Walker? Wake up."

He was staring at the ivory-pale face of Raven. Teen Titan for years, Jump City Hero. Revered despite her young age. Not rosy-cheeked Rose, Librarian, Grandmother of one, and server of tea.

"Can you hear me?"

"Unghhhhh..."

"I think that was an _'I'm in pain' _groan. But it could very well be an '_I'm drunk and don't appreciate the flashlight you're holding' _groan too. What do you think?"

"Beast Boy get out of here."

"Geeze, I love you too."

"_You _have caused enough trouble for me today."

"What?! I didn't even try and put pink dye in your wash load today!"

"Go and bug Robin or something."

"Can't. I put pink dye in _his _wash load today."

"Beast Boy..."

"Oh come on, cut me some slack! It was an accident, I swear!"

"Don't yell.Terry, are you okay?"

"How do you know this guys name?"

"Because I can read, moron."

"Huh?"

Terry opened his eyes to the agitated banter between Raven and --now kneeling beside him as well-- Beast Boy. Raven was holding his newly received pink slip in her hands, rumpled and wrinkled, and smudged with dirt.

"Your cape smells like jasmine." Terry said to her.

The two looked down at him, surprised.

"Excuse me?"

"Your heard the man Rae. Your _cape _smells like jasmine." Beast Boy leered at her, rocking forwards on his toes. She shoved him and he fell -pouting- onto his but.

"A friend spilled tea on me." she replied to him reaching around to unlock his cuffs. "I didn't have time to change."

"I knew a gal who made me jasmine tea. Best friend I ever had. But nowadays, jasmine tea is hard to come by. Whoever found some went through a whole lotta trouble for it."

"At least _someone _appreciates my efforts." Beast Boy grumbled from his place on the ground.

"Listen, the paramedics will be here soon. Do you have anyone they can get a hold of. Relatives?"

"Not really. But I got a friend at the Grandion. They can drop me off there."

"Is?"

"Terry? I thought I sent you home, what are you doing here? Oh god you look _terrible_. What kind of trouble did you get yourself into?" Isabel rushed around from behind the counter, her worn, blue floor-length sweater flapping behind her. She hastily dropped the empty bottles she had been carrying on the countertop, and hurried to his side. "You're bruised all over." she said, turning his head this way and that. "What in the world happened to you?"

"I just ran into a little trouble."

"It looks like you had a head on _collision _with trouble. Are you going to tell me about it?" Isabel's eyes finally wandered down to his wrists, purple and bruised, and widened even more.

"How about I tell you over tea."

"Oh all right. You still like jasmine with two sugars?" she disappeared up a corkscrew of stairs, her voice echoing down. When she came back she carried a flimsy box of tea. "Just like Gran used to make it?"

"Just like Rose used to make it." he agreed. "You know... She was always talking about you."

"She was?" Isabel set a mis-matched tea set on the counter. The china patterns were all different, and the paint was chipped on all of them. "What did she say?"

"Well she'd talk about your career plans, being a bartender and all. '_That girl never took no for an answer, especially from a boy'_. I heard tales about when you were a kid, and you played in the mud with the boys, instead of dollies with the girls. But you always made time for tea."

"Jasmine tea." she smiled, holding her tea cup. "She kept bugging me that spring. I was done school that year, and she always wanted me to bring her lunch... I think she wanted us to meet. Especially the way she talked about you. She'd tell me you were such a sweet young man, and so shy too..." she looked at Terry over her steaming tea. "I'm sure that if she had a little more time alive, she would have gotten us together."

"Well," said Terry, setting down his own worn mug. "Maybe we should honour her unspoken wishes."

"Maybe."

_Maybe it'll work this time_. Beast Boy thought, dropping the tea bag into a mug of scalding water. _Maybe she won't think I poisoned it, and she won't try and dump it down the sink. _He watched the bag slowly leak colour into the water, the smell rising into the air. _Maybe she'll kiss me_...

_Too far_.

_That _wasn't going to happen. With his luck he'd be fortunate not to get it thrown in his face. In fact come to think of it-

"Did you spit in it this time?" Raven was standing in front of him, arms crossed, hood down.

Beast Boy scoffed. "I didn't spit in it _last _time."

"You just wanted to pour it on me."

"Dude I told you, I tripped!" he said, exasperated, gesturing wildly. "And I mean I _did _have to go to a lot of trouble to get it you know. I had to pay this smelly old guy like fifty bucks just to find out where they _sell _it, and then when I make it for you, you try and dump it and how would you feel! That's like the time that Starfire made all of us that giant tamaranian meal that took her, like, all day and then we threw it all up half an hour later-"

"But that was food poisoning. There were bacteria in there that is considered food poisoning everywhere with a health code."

"Yeah but!... she still went to all that trouble. And she started crying when Robin had to run off in the middle of him comforting her..."

"Are you telling me that you're going to cry?"

Beast Boy shot a look at Raven, who was trying not to smirk.

She wasn't very good at it though.

"Fine." he grumbled. "I'll drink it myself." he picked up the steaming mug and tried to flounce away without spilling any. He didn't get all the way around the counter when Raven stopped him.

"You know Beast Boy, that's too much tea for just me. Why don't you get another mug." She almost smiled at him.

So as Raven divided the tea, and Isabel came from behind the counter to sit beside Terry, I'm sure Rose would have smiled from up there, wherever that is, knowing that jasmine tea did more than just soothe away a young teenagers college stress. Knowing that jasmine tea, however hard to find, was worth the wait, no matter how old you are.

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**Alright so i drifted abit from the main theme, but it's done, and thats more than what i can say for my other stories. i've been busy, and sick and sick some more, and just plain lazy, so progress is slow. I've lost my fifty word list, all i've got is the plot outlines for the first ten on a white board in my room, so it's up to gaara-o-sand to provide me with his copy of the list.**

**It starts out with some random drunk, so i hope that didn't deter you from keeping on till the end.**

**review!**


	2. Privilege

29: Privilege

It was a pleasant day in Jump City. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and on Juniper Street hordes of innocent bystanders were throwing up.

The normal wear for a usual villain/ hero/ adventurer/ anyone in figure skating, gymnastics or the circus, is spandex. Colorful, attention drawing, second-skin spandex. It comes in an unimaginable amount of colors and patterns, and while wearing it, leaves nothing to the imagination.

And although it is common in Jump City to see another two-bit criminal running down the street in spandex and combat boots, the cliché bag of cash flung over their shoulder, keep in mind spandex is not for everyone. You may be thinking, _Why authoress, what do you mean? I put on body suits and towel-capes with my friends and we all look great! _Well let me first say this before we go on.

Spandex is a privilege, not a right.

It was on this sunny and energetic day on which our story takes place.

Having escaped out of prison with a cell phone and an electric toothbrush a week prior, Control Freak had finally made his appearance at the local electronics store, dancing from aisle to aisle with a shopping cart. The clerks had been subdued and he had just stepped into view of a demonstration camera when the Titans burst through the double doors.

"Alright Control Freak." Robin shouted, his cape flapping dramatically in the non-existent wind. "We're here to take you down!"

"Do your worst Titans," he replied in his horrible screechy voice. He took one look at his image on the TVs around him, and with a flourish, whipped off his overcoat.

The result was dramatic, and exactly what he had been wanting. All the Titans gasped, taking a step or two back. They were completely speechless.

Then the results took an unwanted turn. Starfires eyes welled up with tears and she began to wail loudly, great heaving sobs shaking her shoulders. Robin hurriedly dove behind the counter and while he made friends with the trash can, Cyborg twitched and sparked, his one eye empty and unfocused. As Beast Boy continued to stare in horror and disgust, Raven turned to him and buried her face in his shoulder, shielding her eyes.

Standing before them (and displayed on TVs all around them) was a sight most horrific. In a most desperate act of fandom, Control Freak had severely altered his costume to look like that of his most revered sci-fi character. In fact, it was the very same costume worn in the show itself, and Control Freak had hacked computer after computer to get it. Needless to say, it had been made for a man slimmer than he, and the seams strained and bulged under the pressure. Furthermore, the costume being made of spandex, every roll and ripple of fat was visible, his belly protruding from between his shirt and pants.

"Behold, Titans! Your new-and-improved nemesis is back. Prepare for defeat!" He lunged forward, flailing his controller around at surrounding appliances, and with a horrendous ripping sound, his entire costume tore into pieces and fluttered to the ground where they lay in vibrant, colorful rags. With a horrible shriek he realized what he had done, and, only stopping to grab his overcoat, proceeded to run, full tilt, away from the scene.

When the police arrived at the scene they found that Robin had made friends with several more trash cans, Starfire and Cyborg were both staring blankly ahead, the latter with tears still in her eyes, humming a tamaranian lullaby. And the most shocking of all (which the tabloids would quote "a rip in reality caused some very unusual happenings") Beast Boy was comforting Raven, both arms around her, stroking her hair.

Cadet Five-seven looked at his companion, cadet eight-three.

"You've got a friend in the press right?"

JUMP DAILY:

LOCAL VILLAIN CAUSES SUPER-SECRETS TO BE REVEALED

At approximately 12:48 yesterday afternoon, Eddies Electronics was broken into by local villain 'Control Freak'. Although Freak made away with a large amount of merchandise, he still left behind a parting gift.

The well known Heroes of Jump are valiant, brave and -after all- still teenagers. It seemed only a matter of time before something bloomed between these young hormones. A recent trip to Tokyo for these young ones seems to have brought two Titans together already. So what is in store for the other three?

At approximately 12:55 yesterday afternoon, police backup arrived to assist the Teen Titans in escorting Control Freak back to jail. However they came upon not the site of heroics, but of romance. Two eye-witnesses on the police force claim to have seen Raven and Beast Boy in a 'lovers embrace' after their troubled encounter with Control Freak. Several civilians on the street were more than happy to put their two cents in as well. "There has always been tension between those two. It was so inevitable that they would get together".

For now though it seems the two are studiously avoiding each other, determined to dispel idle gossip. They have also refused to comment to the press about the incident--

Robin looked up from the newspaper to see Beast Boy storm into the room.

"If you're looking for Raven, she's waiting for you up on the roof" he taunted.

"Dude, shut up!"

Starfire glanced at Raven across a clothing rack.

"Perhaps you could purchase an attractive outfit to wear for Beast Boy." she ventured.

"What did you just say?"

Cyborg shot a look at his friend beside him, beating him mercilessly at Mega Monkeys Ultimate.

"What's the matter Green Bean. Got Raven on the brain?"

"Dude!!"

Beast Boy and Cyborg walked into the common room to find Robin and Starfire making out passionately on the couch.

"Dude that is sick."

"I'm sure that's what those cops said when they saw you and Rae goin' at it."

"Man, shut your face!"

JUMP DAILY:

MAYORS SPRING BALL BRINGS TITANS TOGETHER:

Spring is in the air, and with spring comes young love.

It seems that the two titans Beast Boy and Raven have finally admitted their feelings. Late last night they arrived at the Mayors Annual Spring ball in a stylish limousine, along with several other Teen Titan members. The two were smitten with each other and as close as two peas in a pod. They were seen dancing to several songs, conversing freely with the other members of the party, and (sources say) even snuck outside for 'privacy' halfway through the mayors' speech. As we all know- cont'd pg 16. Pictures pg 17-20.

It is here that our story ends and we must reflect on the lesson.

Like all things, there is a line. And like all things there are consequences for stepping over that line. Whether it is severe and disorienting nausea, merciless beatings for those of stronger stomachs, or the inevitable coupling of two teens in denial.

Just remember...

Spandex is a privilege not a right.

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**I'd like to apologive for my lack of dividers on my last story. i heard it got pretty confusing two thirds through when it was all melted together like that.**

**So happy back-to-school and all that jazz. Oddly i seem to have the odd craving for a high-school set fic, or maybe i should just get my butt in gear and work on McAdams a little. at this point i just hope i finish it before i graduate (in almost two years. grade 11 baby... it's scary!). i recently spent all my money at this great comic book shop in Spokane at northtown mall. i bought three Robin issues (tim drake) two Teen Titan issues (and i mean robin 3, superboy, wonder girl, impulse, kid devil, ravager...) Batman Hush Returns, and my favorite of all: Harley Quinn, Preludes and Knock Knock jokes! And how could i forget the bright red Flash hoodie that is a frighteningly large large. I suppose i just like to swim in my clothes.**

**So lets give a round of applause to Hackers (the movie, not the life-style. 1994, it's a masterpiece!), and that delightful quote. Don't forget there are forty eight more to come if my calculations are correct (and lets hope so, i'm going to need those math skills this semester).  
I hope you're enjoying september as much as i am..**

**you-neek**


	3. Subconscious

Deep in the tower, on one hot humid night in Jump City, Raven tossed fitfully in her sleep. Cold sweat dotted her forehead. Her sheets twisted and confined her with each restless roll and stressful whimpers left her mouth.

Somewhere, deep in her mind, chaos was reigning free, melting and twisting her possessions until they were little more than gnarled shapes rising from the ground. Black tendrils of magic writhed in the air, streaming from Raven herself. They slipped out into the tower touching upon her team mates, delving into the shadows of their mind. Finally with one last flicker they swelled and energy rushed back into her mind, forcing her into a place between dreaming and waking, where nothing could be ignored.

* * *

"Your turn."

Richard grasped the bar in two hands and pushed off the platform with both legs. He swung effortlessly through the air feeling more like he could fly, as he always did when he was performing all his acrobatics. They were called the Flying Graysons after all not the swinging Graysons.

He landed on the other side lightly and swung the bar back to his parents.

"Hurry up!" he called.

As they grasped the bar a man appeared in the shadows. It was only for a moment but his eyes glinted with malice and as he melted away there was a bloodcurdling scream. Richards head snapped up just in time to see his mother and father hurtle towards the ground, the sabotaged wire hanging limply above.

Richard launched himself after them into the yawning blackness below. His mothers' screams faded away and he soon found himself standing in a cavernous black space.

The silence stretched on, unbroken, empty. Batmans' face materialized out of the nothingness, frighteningly blank. Even as he called out the face remained silent, never speaking, and Robin had the heavy suspicion that he had done something wrong, again.

Batmans' cape suddenly unfurled and within it Robin found a city of crime and filth, where the alleys crawled with low lives and trash. He scrambled to find his bearings in this strange new city. Down the street a man was being beaten, around the corner three men held up a bank.

Robin fought long and hard until his muscles ached and his veins ran through with fire, but it was no use. For every battle won another two sprung up in place. 'I can't do this alone' he thought. But unable to find a whisper of help, he was left to struggle alone until crime consumed the city. And so Robin became only a figurehead, useless and frail. Unable to do a thing.

* * *

_Tumbling through the black…_

_Falling, falling, falling…_

* * *

"Mom, _what did you do_?"

Vivid colors flashed against the rooms' vast darkness. A beast of a thing, monstrous and huge, raced around and growled from deep within its chest. From the corners of the room came chilling noises.

Snapping

Crunching

Biting

Tearing

Snarling

Crashing

Breaking

Slapping

Heavy breathing

Hurried footsteps

A scream cut short.

"Dad?"

Victor lay on a slab of cold metal, slowly coming to his senses. Above him was a light, blinding in its brightness. Its' power shone off everything around him, making the large white room seem even more clean and sterile.

His head rolled to the side and he screamed when he saw his reflection. His arms and legs were gone and in place he had cold robotic parts. His breathing quickened with the more he saw. His organs – replaced. Barely an inch of actual skin left. But the worst was his face. His left eye was removed completely and had been replaced with a mechanical one that glowed an angry red.

Everything shifted.

He was standing in the middle of a busy sidewalk, paralyzed with rust, while people walked around him. Everyone had a different reaction to him. Some stared in horror; others shot him angry glares, while others went completely out of their way to avoid him.

Cyborg walked, shamefaced, into the shadows where he disappeared and the only thing you could see was his angry glowing eye.

* * *

_You're running fast and hard but you're not moving…_

_Reach for it…_

_Reach for it!_

_What's wrong with your arms?_

* * *

Koriand'r watches her sister Komand'r train with the other children her age. Her sister is strong, beautiful, charming… everything she is not. But Koriand'r is proud to have such a sister! Komand'r has been destined for greatness since birth and jealousy was useless. Besides she had one trump card. Her sister still had difficulty flying and could barely manage to hover a few feet before falling again. It was their secret though; Komand'r had said no one could find out.

Suddenly she was pulled from out of the gardens and taken to her father. Her sister was already there, looking bold as ever.

The kind advisors conversed with each other. When they broke apart all eyes were on Komand'r. She stared back defiantly, her childhood wildness still untamed.

"Komand'r." said one. "We have learned that you are unable to fly." Kori saw her sisters' mood change. The muscles in her shoulders stiffened, and her eyes hardened. Neither of them knew what this would bring about. "Never in Tamaranian history has there been a ruler, unable to fly. As our queen, and one of our greatest warriors, being grounded is a serious disadvantage."

Kori listened on fearfully. If they said a queen without flight was never heard of, that meant-

"You're right to the throne has been revoked. It passes to the next in line." Their eyes shifted, bringing Komand'rs too. Her face was a marble mask of calm.

"Koriand'r"

"_Why are they doing this?"_

"_Sister where are you?"_

The cell she was in was unbelievably small. It was tall and thin and allowed almost no movement. Her clothes were torn and dirtied almost indecently, while her hair was longer than she was tall.

"_You're headed off to the Psions girl…_

…_experimentation…_

_you'll have such fun … goodbye little princess…"_

Koriand'r floated in a yawning empty blackness. Her joyous escape had been thwarted by the large and undeniable fact that she was lost with no planet in sight for miles and miles. She was so lost and hopeless so she closed her eyes and let her body fall.

* * *

_Wake up…_

_Wake up…_

* * *

"Welcome to Africa sweetie."

Little Gar Logan sat in a clearing playing with the other children. Not far away his mother gathered with the other women and washed laundry.

When they weren't watching Gar stood up and teetered away. He walked steadily through ferns and undergrowth until he reached a point in the jungle where the leaves blocked out the sun. The ground was cracked and dry, the plants were crispy with thirst and the animals were silent in their calls.

Gar started to panic. He was lost and the tree branches here were too high to try and climb.

Then a piece of shadow broke away and landed in front of him. It was hunched and small but its' acid green eyes shone out of the dark with powerful force. It shrieked then, a horrible scratchy noise that cut through the dead silence.

The shape launched itself and slammed into Gar. With a final hoarse roar it ran off and left Gar standing on shaky legs, stumbling through undergrowth until –

"Garfield! Where have you- Oh Gar… What's wrong?" His mother gasped. A large toothy bite mark was indented above his elbow. His whole arm was slick with blood. "Mark! Mark!" her voice was far away… so far away…

It hurt. Everything hurt. But he couldn't feel a thing. It was too hot and too cold at the same time. Too dark and too bright. Too loud and he couldn't hear a thing.

What was going on?

Where was he?

It hurt so much…

Blackness

"Fly. Gar, honey you have to fly."

His mother. She was crying. She was crying _so much, _what was wrong?

"Gar, listen to me, you _have to fly._ Now."

Okay try it. Wings, feathers, a beak.

His muscles stretched and knotted and tore and _burned_ oh **god** it burned. But he was flying! However unsteady, he was flying. One wing was shorter than the other, and feathers were falling out on the way to shore … and he may have given himself paws by accident instead of talons…. But he was flying!

_Look Mom! I'm flying!_

_Mom?_

Mom?

Dad?

"What is it Gar?" Mento looked down at Beast Boy.

_This isn't right. Where are my parents?_

"We're right here honey." Rita came to stand beside Steve. "We're your parents."

_No you're not! You're lying!_

"Beast Boy, do not talk like that to your parents. Now buck up and get ready. We've got a mission."

Mento kept yelling at him. No matter what he did, or how hard he tried, he wouldn't stop yelling.

Mento began to change.

Slowly he became Robin and the yelling never stopped.

"You're an animal Beast Boy. You can't be controlled. You're dangerous. _You belong in a cage."_

He ran. Hard.

He ran, and ran, and ran.

He ran so hard and for so long that his knobby little human legs changed into fur-covered wolf legs. His fingernails grew into claws that bit into the ground with every pounding step. His thoughts narrowed. With the more distance between civilization and this beast his thoughts became more basic. Primal.

Like an animal.

"_You belong in a __**cage**__."_

* * *

"_No!"_

"_No!"_

"_No!"_

"_No!"_

"_No!"_

* * *

"So what happened?" the Titans were all gathered in the common room, looking tired and disheveled. No lights had been turned on but the city glowed enough to light the way.

"My powers," Raven started. She looked the worst out of all of them. While they each had their own personal worst nightmare, she had experienced all four at once. "My powers …I'm not sure. All that I know is that while I sleep my powers are weaker but also less controlled."

"So … what?" Beast Boy asked. He looked just as tired as everyone else but their look of fresh haunt was absent on his face. "You had a nightmare and your powers decided to share the experience with the family?"

Robin started at that. "Family!" he said. "You could have been unconsciously seeking comfort from us. We all know how your powers and your subconscious mind are very connected."

Raven nodded along.

"Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I still need to sleep at night." Cyborg lumbered off the couch. "Sleep tight."

Slowly the other Titans made their way to bed, trialing blankets and housecoats on the floor behind them.

As Beast Boy made the last steps to his door Raven brushed against him. It was a feather light touch against their shoulders, but the result was electric.

Images flashed vividly across his mind. Fire, lightening, smoke, chains, blood, and stone all wrapped in dark and shoved against the backs of his eyes.

"Let me guess." Beast Boy gasped from the floor. "Your powers."

Raven nodded beside him. "I'm still not fully in control… or partially in control actually. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He cringed away from her offered hand and sat up against the wall.

"I'm sorry about your childhood." She said seeing the wild unknown of the jungle and shivering. "It must have been very … difficult."

"I'm sorry about your childhood." He said. "It must have been very lonely."

"Not at all." Raven touched her chakra na vara. "I had constant companionship. Constant."

"Um, what? Why?"

"Gar, children are emotional and impulsive. They throw tantrums. As far as powers go having them dependant on your emotional stability when you're six, or worse thirteen, well … it sucks."

Beast Boy blinked at her bluntness.

"Did you ever get so upset that you got in trouble? And then you only pretended to calm down just to sneak away to somewhere you weren't allowed to be, or go up to your room to sulk?"

Beast Boy thought of those rare rebellious days with Mento. "Yes."

"Well I would get upset … at my mother or my father. At my powers, at the people I was surrounded with, at fate and destiny…" Raven, lost in the past, didn't notice her cloak falling loosely off her shoulders or Beast Boy scooting closer. "But when _I_ got upset I _couldn't_ sneak off. I was always watched too closely for it and I couldn't go back to my room and sulk. My powers would shake the room to pieces and I would end up paying for it later. Once a big part of my wall fell ten stories onto the street and almost hit the high priestess. Came this close." Raven laughed and held her fingers close together. This was a nice change, he decided, from the detached bitter Raven that often thought about her past.

"It sounds like little Raven was a bit of a trouble maker." He nudged her with his shoulder. "C'mon I bet you had a few un-expected high-priestess pranks."

"Well," Raven smiled her rarely seen slow smile. This was a favorite of his; when she smiled her lashes would lower coyly and whatever she was looking at (be it the floor, out the window or her own twisting fingers) seemed to entertain her at great length. Beast Boy had often wished to be on the receiving end of one of _those_ looks.

"Once," she admitted, "I sewed her official robe sleeves shut. I heard she tried to push her hands through for ten minutes before she figured out what was going on." Ravens laughter was quiet but infectious. It was hard to believe that Raven had ever been the vengeful prankster at any point in her life but that didn't make it any less hilarious.

She continued to reminisce about the year before she was a Titan with a little coaxing and a lot of patience from Beast Boy. They spent the hours before dawn looking back, not in anger or bitterness as more than one Titan was prone to do. She had spent so much of her own life hating it or thinking 'what if' instead of focusing on any of the good. It was a nice change. And when the sun finally broke over the windowsill down the hall and shone straight into their eyes Raven was surprised but not at all unhappy to realize she had contentedly spent more time alone with Beast Boy than she ever had before.

When they all gathered on one of the lower floors for the scheduled training session everyone looked equally exhausted in their pajamas. They had all spent the rest of the night looking back, although maybe not as cheerfully as she had.

It had been Beast Boy this time but he hadn't (and wouldn't) always be him to console her, distract her from things she needed to forget. Because if the Titans were anything they weren't a team or a business or a charity. They were a family first and foremost. A large dysfunctional, government funded family that had to work through more drama and violence than any one reality show. Ever.

* * *

Why weren't they taping any of this?

* * *

**And thus marks my truimphant return. I'm moderately proud of this story, not as much as i was for 'Insane' but thats a hard one to top. I've had this kicking around unfinished for at least two years, maybe more, as it usually happens with me. I have books full of half started fanfictions but i never finish them. I'm actually already halfway through the new revision of McAdams but its been so long i have to read the whole thing again to remember what i was planning for it.**

** Back to the story at hand, Ravens powers have always been something not quite defined enough because something new is always happening with them. That and her character in the cartoon and her character in the comics have almost no similar powers. Seriously confusing. I dare you to wiki her right now and see what it says under powers. No one seems to go back to when she was a kid and write about it. I know that i would never, i mean writing fanfiction is a way to write without having to make something completely new up, so why would they? I know alot of people used the whole 'the kids always picked on me for being different' thing but it's AZARATH: the dimension between dimensions where priests and monks etc live on a chunk of floating rock and pray for bad things not to happen so i didn't think there would be many kids. Just because Ravens a serious person doesn't mean she can't be a kid though and do kid things like act out or trick the people who were unkind to her. I imagine whoever was in charge of that place would either not like her or at least expect her to not blow them all up with her rage tears.**

** I'm rambling though. I should mention here (because i hope those of you who watch cartoons about comics also read comics and thus also have read watchmen) that i saw Sucker Punch and almost died of happiness. Yeah it wasn't a movie masterpeice, but so what? Not everyone or everything needs a ridiculous amount of 'civilized plot' to satisfy. Besides i was pretty much watching it only for Zach Snyder and all the half naked ladies. To be specific: Jena Malone and Carla Gugino. Anyways Happy April Fools, the day where i wish i was clever enough to trick other people and get really confused as to why things don't count after noon (seriously though, anyone know? cause thats only like six hours of serious pranking time. Not enough in my books)**


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